


The Ways We Hide

by CybeleEvelysse



Category: Persona 5
Genre: F/M, Freckles, Makeup, Romance, Self Confidence Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:54:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27365347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CybeleEvelysse/pseuds/CybeleEvelysse
Summary: To him, his freckles had always been a flaw, another part of himself that he needed to hide from the world just like everything else about his true self. He couldn't let anyone see him as anything less than the perfect Detective Prince that he pretended to be, so he covered them up at all times with makeup.Already established romantic relationship between Ann and Goro, very minor appearance from Akira. Takes place post game.
Relationships: Akechi Goro & Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro & Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Takamaki Ann
Kudos: 8





	The Ways We Hide

The night is always long, nightmares filling Goro's head, nightmares that he can never seem to wake from. Sometimes he isn't sure if he's even asleep, sometimes he thinks he's awake, for the things he experiences while awake are just as bad as the things he experiences while asleep. It's hard to draw the line between dream and reality, when he's in hell no matter which one he's in. 

That's how it used to be, anyway, but it isn't like that anymore. The nightmares still come, after all, his mother is still dead, and he's still the one that found her. He still spent years of his life acting as his father's puppet, doing his bidding without questioning whether or not he should, and there's still a plethora of scars on his body that will never fully heal no matter how much time passes, some visible to the world and others visible only to him. The nightmares are just part of who he is, and he can't run away from himself, but he can run to something,  _ someone _ .

Goro can feel the petal soft touch of Ann's fingertip on his face. She's gliding it across his nose, his cheeks, gently playing a game of connect the dots with his freckles. To him, his freckles had always been a flaw, another part of himself that he needed to hide from the world just like everything else about his true self. He couldn't let anyone see him as anything less than the perfect Detective Prince that he pretended to be, so he covered them up at all times with makeup. 

At night, however, just as he couldn't hide from himself, he couldn't hide his freckles from her. It was bad for his skin to sleep in makeup, so he couldn't avoid having her see them. When she finally did before they went to sleep last night, she was surprised, because of course he hadn't ever said anything about them to her, but once that feeling passed, she just told him that they were cute.

_"I don't want to be cute,"_ Goro scoffed in response to her words, even though she had meant it as a compliment.  
_"It's not a bad thing. You don't have to be the flawless Detective Prince anymore, you know. That isn't the person that I want to see. I want to see you, the real you,"_ Ann replied with a sweet smile.  
_"The real me doesn't want to be cute either,"_ He stated in response. He hated the idea of being cute, because he felt that no one would ever take him seriously if they perceived him that way. His carefully fabricated image was meant to be handsome and perfect, like a fairytale prince, not cute like a child.  
_"Well, that's just too bad, because you are, and I'll make you love your freckles, just like how I made you love me,"_ She told him confidently, then she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down toward her. He had expected her to simply kiss his lips, but instead, she kissed his nose, and the tops of his cheeks, touching each and every freckle with her lips. He was taken aback. He wasn't sure how he was meant to react to that, but he could feel how much she loved him and the dots on his face that he considered imperfections.

Are they imperfections, though? Goro always thought that they were, but now he isn't so sure. He opens his eyes, and sees Ann's smiling face hovering over him, pale blonde hair forming a halo around her as the light streaming in through the window behind her illuminates it. All at once, all of the nightmares are gone, cleansed by the flames of her love. "Hey...are you okay? You were making these sort of crying noises in your sleep earlier," She says, her gentle voice filled with concern as her hand caresses his cheek. She isn't used to the nightmares like he is.   
"It's nothing, just the usual nightmares that I often have. Don't worry about it," Goro replies, trying to assure her that he's fine.    
"I wish I could make them go away the way they do in all of those romance movies, where all it takes is sleeping next to your lover to make everything all better," Ann states.   
"Unfortunately, reality isn't like that. I may not be in hell anymore, metaphorically speaking, but I still spent most of my life there, and the things that I've seen will probably haunt me for the remainder of it. You don't need to make a fuss over it though, I've learned how to deal with it. I'm fine," He insists, even though ignoring it and dealing with it are two entirely different things.   
"If you ever want to talk about it, I'm here for you. You don't need to hide anything from me," Ann responds, and Goro smiles softly. Then he reaches his hand up, and weaves his fingers into her hair against the side of her head. He gently pulls her down toward him, until her lips press against his, and they share a tender kiss.

They get up shortly after that to get ready for the day. Side by side, they brush their teeth in the bathroom, then they each reach for their makeup. Ann puts on her concealer, to hide the purple hued dark circles under her eyes visible through her paper thin pale skin, and Goro moves to grab his foundation to hide his freckles, but he hesitates. Why is he still hiding so many things about himself? His days as the Detective Prince are long gone, and yet he's still trying to look the way that he wants the world to perceive him. The same world that he viewed as his own personal hell for so many years.

Ann notices that he's just standing there, not doing anything, so she decides to ask him, "What's wrong?" He doesn't look at her, he just continues to stare at his half empty bottle of foundation, wondering if he even wants to bother buying a new one when it's used up. Does he even want to use it up at all?   
"I thought I had quit hiding my true self last year, but...I realize now that I've still been hiding, just in a different way. I tried to discard all of the things that made me fragile enough to be manipulated, but in doing so, I created a new facade for myself. I'm the ruthless asshole who doesn't give a shit about anyone. Instead of getting up in the morning thinking I can't have freckles because they make me imperfect, I started getting up in the morning thinking that I can't have freckles because they contrast with that image. So I kept hiding them, just like I kept hiding everything that made me feel vulnerable," Goro replies with complete honesty, and Ann is surprised by just how self-aware he is. She knows that the real him is the sweet man who shows her love each day in between their back and forth snarky banter, but that's not something that he's ever chosen to acknowledge himself before.   
"I've spent a lot of time getting to know you, and I've learned that the real you is neither the Detective Prince nor the ruthless asshole. He's just...Goro Akechi, the man I love. You can be a snarky ass, but you can also be a gentle, loving boyfriend. You shouldn't try to force yourself to just be one thing, you should accept that you're a lot of things, and none of them need to be hidden." Ann reaches for her eyebrow pencil and holds it up with a cheerful smile on her face as he stares at her in confusion. "Least of all your freckles." Then she turns to face the mirror again, and starts dotting freckles onto her cheeks and nose using the pencil. 

Once she finishes, she turns to face Goro again, and smiles proudly. "Now we can don our cutesy freckles in solidarity!" She proclaims.    
"You're such a strange little idiot sometimes," He remarks, causing her happy expression to fall. Then he reaches his hand up to caress her cheek, and leans down until his face is only a few inches away from hers. "But I love you. Thank you." He kisses her, softly, and when he pulls back, he sees that her cheeks are now a rosy pink shade.   
"I love you too, all of you, even the parts you don't like," Ann replies, warming his heart. Goro then grabs the foundation, and tosses it into the trash bin.   
"I may never like certain aspects of myself, but I'm done hiding them. It's ten minutes of my life that I waste every morning, and for what? To hide some stupid dots on my face? I'm tired of wasting my time on things that don't serve any worthwhile purpose and don't make me happy," He states. Then he grabs a makeup wipe off of the counter, and uses it to wipe away the small amount of concealer that Ann had put on underneath her eyes. "And neither should you. I quite like your dark circles. They give you character."

Ann looks in the mirror, and frowns a little. "Like I need any more character when I'm usually the only blonde haired, blue eyed girl in a room. People are always looking at me everywhere that I go. I know that I asked for it by signing up to be a model, but it's different when I'm just out in public going about my life. When I'm working, I'm an inspiration for loads of young girls to be confident in themselves...but when I'm not, I'm just the weirdo who attracts a lot of unwanted attention. It's why Kamoshida even noticed me in the first place, why he..." Ann pauses. She still has trouble talking about the things that happened to Shiho, even though she knows in her heart that it wasn't her fault.

Goro doesn't say anything at first, he just wraps his arms around her, pulling her into a warm embrace, and she does the same in return automatically. Then when he does speak, it’s to assure her. "If anyone ever tries to hurt you or Shiho that way again, I won't hesitate to kill them. You never need to worry about anything like that happening ever again.”   
"You don't need to kill them. Just get them locked up, okay?" She says with a weak smile.   
"As you wish." 

They finish getting ready after that, and Ann doesn't choose to put her concealer back on, though she does choose to keep it. She might dislike her dark circles just a little bit less because of Goro’s words, but she still wants to have it for days when she feels like doing a full face, for fun. Sometimes it isn't just about hiding what she doesn't like, sometimes it's about expressing herself through an art form. 

They're about to head out the door to meet Akira for lunch, when Goro suddenly stops. "Ann, that nightmare I had...it was about my mother. I was the one who found her when she killed herself. I didn’t tell you about it earlier because I don't like to talk about it, but...I don't want to hide it from you either," He tells her, though he doesn't sound upset. He sounds as if he's just talking about facts, not about something that causes him great pain, despite the fact that it most certainly does.   
"Goro...I'm so sorry. I don't even know what else to say," Ann responds, at a loss for words. It's the saddest thing that she's ever heard, and she doesn't know that there's anything that she could ever say that would make it any better.   
"You don't need to say anything. I just wanted to tell you, that's all. Anyway, let's go meet Akira," Goro says, as he grabs his coat and throws it on as if nothing is wrong. His behavior confuses her a little, but she doesn't argue, she just follows him when he opens the door and walks out with him. Perhaps he doesn't need to talk about it, perhaps he just needs her to be there for him. Perhaps that's enough, she thinks.

They meet up with Akira, and while he finds the pair of them donning freckles amusing, he sees nothing wrong with either of their appearances. He even tells Goro that he's inspired him to stop wearing his fake glasses all the time. If Goro can stop hiding who he really is, then so can Akira.

What had Goro even been worried about this entire time? It was silly for him to hide so many things that he didn't need to. It feels better to just be himself, he thinks, nothing beats it. That's ten minutes everyday that he'll never need to waste again.


End file.
